Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 22,577 Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,378,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAP. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 2,226.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,026,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939,560 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,531,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,637,000 after purchasing an additional 107,540 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,882,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 931,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,078,000 after buying an additional 452,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 2,716,800.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 842,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,402,000 after buying an additional 842,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Advance Auto Parts

In other Advance Auto Parts news, Director Brent Windom bought 4,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.34 per share, with a total value of $401,098.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $853,400. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Carla Jean Bailo purchased 310 shares of Advance Auto Parts stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $81.19 per share, for a total transaction of $25,168.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,789 shares in the company, valued at $470,008.91. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brent Windom purchased 4,700 shares of Advance Auto Parts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.34 per share, with a total value of $401,098.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $853,400. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TheStreet raised shares of Advance Auto Parts from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.56.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of Advance Auto Parts stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $75.14. The company had a trading volume of 721,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,323. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 101.54, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.73 and a 52 week high of $127.31.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.83). Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 1.68%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio is presently 135.14%.

About Advance Auto Parts

Advance Auto Parts, Inc provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts.